Should we have a say in security? Most of us aren't security experts or constitutional scholars.

Any time our transit police officers set up one of these checkpoints at Metro stations, they are putting themselves in harm's way to protect us. Even if they don't wind up opening a bag full of bombs - an event that riders and police agree is extremely unlikely - they could wind up confronting a person intent on doing damage in some way. So we should listen carefully to what these officers have to say about the checkpoint program.

But that doesn't mean we can't question how much security this program provides. And it doesn't mean we can't apply our own reasonable standards about surrendering privacy to the government in exchange for whatever level of protection is being offered.

This has been done before. The colonists who questioned the right of the king's government to search their property weren't experts on the Fourth Amendment. They hadn't written it yet. They just knew what they didn't like and thought it was worth a fight.

The travelers who attended the Riders' Advisory Council hearing didn't want to take up arms. They just wanted to talk. The council, a citizens panel created by the transit authority to advise it, did something the Metro board has failed to do: It provided a forum for police officials to state their case and for riders to ask their questions and present objections.